Street Photography: The City at Night

Course details

Cities take on entirely new personalities at night—and capturing personality is what street photography is all about. In this installment of the Street Photography series, photographer, author, and educator Steve Simon takes to the streets, beaches, and outer boroughs of New York after dark. Steve explores not only the creative options behind nighttime street shooting, but also the technical considerations and camera settings that provide the most fluid, effortless shooting situations.

Learning objectives
Taking shots of the skyline at night
Shooting with a long exposure and noise reduction
Shooting subjects in low light
Panning with a moving subject
Shooting light trails
Zeroing out camera settings after a complex shot

Concepts

Introduction

Welcome to the city at night

Brooklyn Bridge Park

Establishing the first location from the Brooklyn Bridge
Taking the first shots of the skyline at night
Shooting at night with long-exposure noise reduction
Shooting subjects with a cityscape background
Critiquing the first night shots

Brighton Beach Boardwalk

Shooting scenes from a low-light boardwalk
Shooting subject at night on the beach
Shooting subjects in front of low-light boardwalk businesses
Reviewing the shots from the beach boardwalk

Urban Street Scenes

Establishing the location for a low-light mural shot
Shooting subjects in low light with a mural background
Shooting subjects at night with reflected light
Panning with a moving subject
Posing a subject in a good low-light street scene
Critiquing the urban low-light street shots

City Night Light Trails

Shooting city night-light trails
Shooting an unconventional night skyline photo
Zeroing out camera settings after a complex shoot
Reviewing the light trails shots

Final Selects

Looking at the final selects from the city at night